At NRF, SAP announced a new loyalty management solution, an AI agent shopping assistant and ERP designed for retailers.
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Read MoreA handful of fundamental inquiries tend to keep CMOs awake during the stillness of night: How can we achieve more with limited resources? And how can we make a larger impact without overwhelming our teams?
When Lisa Cole, the previous Chief Marketing Officer at Cellebrite, assumed her position, these questions continuously occupied her thoughts. She aimed to demonstrate the marketing department’s capability to generate outcomes while enhancing the work-life balance for team members.
This quest laid the foundation for addressing both issues: artificial intelligence (AI).
Cole engaged Nicole Leffer, an advisor on AI for CMOs, to help traverse this new landscape. We conversed with them to discover how marketing leaders can seamlessly integrate AI into their teams. Their collaboration serves as a prime example of how brands are leveraging AI in marketing to attain remarkable outcomes.
“Instead of resisting technology, how do you prepare and develop the upcoming generation of marketers so they can utilize it for a more significant impact on the organization—rather than being disrupted by it? It feels empowering to take charge,” Cole explains.
Both Cole and Leffer possess intriguing beliefs regarding AI. For Cole, AI is an ever-present collaborator for brainstorming and ideation.
“I frequently stumble upon my best ideas during evenings and weekends, when I prefer not to disturb my team. However, I also desire to maintain momentum. So, when I seek to refine an idea, the most intelligent marketing strategist is always available in my pocket,” she shares.
Cellebrite, driven by a mission, utilizes technology to save and protect lives and aimed to inspire a movement. While Cole was conceptualizing a new campaign, she turned to ChatGPT to test her ideas.
“I was attempting to scour websites and data points, but my progress was sluggish. [AI] enabled me to connect the dots faster than I’d have managed by myself. Some genuine themes emerged from that interaction. I employed it to develop the framework for a global campaign,” she reveals.
With Cole’s experiments yielding significant success, she was driven to enlist Leffer to showcase the tool’s potential across her team.
Adopting AI is not merely about introducing another tool to your technology lineup. Similar to prior innovations like email and messaging apps, AI is reshaping our methods of work and collaboration.
Gartner forecasts that by the end of 2025, at least 30% of generative AI initiatives will be abandoned for numerous reasons—ranging from insufficient value to inadequate risk management. Leffer encourages her clients to adopt an experimental attitude to navigate the numerous challenges associated with AI adoption, from tackling learning curves to improving prompt crafting.
A typical pattern emerges as marketing teams begin to embrace the technology. Many individuals start experimenting with AI due to the buzz or out of skepticism, seeking to understand more. In some instances, positive first encounters are overshadowed when users confront issues like hallucinations and glitches.
“Generative AI hasn’t resolved all its flaws. It occasionally forgets things. As a result, beginners may encounter errors or fail to achieve the outcomes they desire, especially if they’re unsure how to prompt effectively,” she elaborates.
She clarifies that while some individuals may walk away upon encountering an error, a smaller group adopts a more exploratory mindset.
“As you begin to experiment, you discover ways to surpass those limitations. The more one experiments, the more they learn. You reach a stage where you’re like me or many of my clients—you’re consistently utilizing AI. I’m perpetually curious about what’s possible.”
Leaders unanimously agree that it’s crucial for marketers to be proficient in AI, as highlighted by The 2025 Sprout Social Index™. Through her experiences in training CMOs, Leffer notes that the most prevalent challenge is encouraging teams to adopt and integrate new technology. Ultimately, it hinges on leading by example. Executives should cultivate a culture of utilizing and studying AI.
“You can’t simply provide individuals with the tool once and expect them to adopt it. Some will be enthusiastic and take off with it, but others will require reminders. You’re altering habits that have been ingrained in them throughout their lives and careers,” she notes.
Leffer expresses that there will also be generational hurdles. People often assume younger employees will quickly adopt AI while older generations will need more time, but this is frequently the opposite.
“Anyone who has blown into a Nintendo cartridge to make it work has had to tinker with technology along the way. The technology wasn’t always user-friendly. You learned to navigate these tools without guidance. In contrast, younger generations, having grown up with iPhones, find it challenging to adopt something as open-ended as AI because it was always ready for them,” she explains.
Cole’s guidance for tackling the hurdles of AI implementation across diverse teams and generations? Practice what you preach and showcase the most effective ways to engage with the technology.
“What has proved effective for my team is to demonstrate to them—with tangible evidence—that the output mirrors the quality of input. [Showing them] it’s meant to be an iterative process rather than simply prompting AI and treating the initial response as the final product,” she asserts.
Displaying these proof points while collaborating with Leffer enabled Cole’s team to grasp AI’s capabilities. Cole shared their most frequent workflows, personas, messaging frameworks, and their brand voice and tone guide. Leffer leveraged these foundational elements to generate concrete examples of how the team could utilize AI.
For instance, Leffer created a blog post and a sequence of emails to promote the content along with other distribution materials. “She demonstrated her process in real-time. We showed them that the output could be truly impressive. Then we equipped them with the prompts and the training on the iterative process necessary to refine it, enhancing the end result,” Cole shares.
Leffer emphasizes that a portion of the AI learning curve arises from not knowing how to prompt effectively. Instead of engaging in back-and-forth Q&A, she suggests initiating a query and utilizing prompt edit functionalities to reflect the needed changes in output.
“I’ve acquired the skill to prompt much more swiftly because it clarifies which information it requires, what’s extraneous, and which tweaks influence the outputs. Initially, it might have taken me six to eight edits to achieve my desired result, but now, one or two suffice,” she states, “I hear others say they had too lengthy a conversation, leading ChatGPT to forget. That issue doesn’t arise when you’re refining through the edit button.”
Cole concurs that this iterative method is essential for honing and differentiating a viewpoint or message. She explains that when using ChatGPT, she’ll refine outputs by asking for clarification, alternatives, or concise edits. “It’s a dialogue. It’s akin to a music composer; they may use the same notes, but how they arrange them is a reflection of our brainstorming together,” she notes.
Here are five actionable steps for integrating AI into your teams, drawing from Cole’s and Leffer’s insights.
Leffer advises fostering a culture where failure is acceptable. She prefers teams to experiment and fail than to refrain from trying altogether. She recommends celebrating those who use AI and sharing those experiences within the team.
“Acknowledge that team members come from varied backgrounds and comfort levels. This is an opportunity to elevate everyone to an even playing field. Yet, we must ensure that no one slips through the cracks,” she remarks.
Leffer suggests moving beyond the typical approach of questioning “Where can I use AI, or what tasks can I accomplish with AI?” Instead, she encourages reversing this mindset by asking, “Can I use AI for this? How?”
She advocates for using AI as frequently as possible to expedite the learning curve. Rather than mastering the tool for one or two tasks, you counter all barriers to wider adoption.
Leffer urges leaders to probe about AI during team discussions to help members comprehend how this new resource relates to their daily tasks. “A strategy that has proven effective in encouraging my team to adopt the technology was regularly asking, ‘How are you planning to employ our AI tools for this?’ Leffer reflects.
Additionally, share prompts and best practices through your internal communication channels to nurture a culture where experimentation with AI is the expectation.
To enhance workflows, Leffer recommends conducting a thorough audit of each discrete step in existing processes. Identify where AI can expedite workflows or elevate the quality of end results.
“Unless you’re convinced that the tool will reduce a task from 10 minutes to three hours, consider using AI. You might find that you underestimated its impact. However, if it saves you 15 minutes 20 times a day, that accumulates to substantial time saved,” she notes.
She illustrated this with blog writing, encompassing briefing, researching, drafting, and reviewing. After reviewing the content brief, the writer begins research. They could then input content from their research into ChatGPT or Gemini, perhaps to organize key points. From there, they can rely on AI to help shape an outline or assist with the first draft.
Be cautious while researching with any generative AI tool, as sometimes they may present information for illustrative purposes or mistakenly assert false claims. Whether using AI for social media content, video scripts, or event materials, fact-checking is essential. AI should not replace human creativity or research—humans must always review and build upon what these tools generate.
For example, when Cellebrite needed to rename one of its products, a cross-functional team engaged in brainstorming and defending their choices. Each individual leveraged ChatGPT for ideas. Once the team identified a favorite (but before legal vetting), they sought to understand from ChatGPT why that option was superior to others. Cole recalls the excitement among team members as they collaborated creatively and felt confident in their choice’s justification.
“AI strengthened the team’s collaboration and led them to a solution much quicker than a flurry of meetings would have. Enhanced speed to market and improved collaboration have been our greatest advantages from AI adoption,” asserts Cole.
Do not allow fear to obstruct individuals from exploring AI. CMOs should collaborate with leaders throughout the organization and consult with legal advisors to establish an AI use policy.
“I observe many marketers who hesitate to use it because they lack clarity on the acceptable actions,” Leffer explains, “No one wants to feel they are sneaking or doing something inappropriate. Be transparent about what is permitted, encouraged, and welcomed.”
As Cole continues to utilize AI, she remains concerned about what information is input into prompts, particularly regarding safeguarding proprietary company data.
“I often consider how we manage data inputs and ensure that no sensitive information is presented on the other side. It is essential that we authenticate our data use, give proper credit to sources, and ensure the final output is compelling and unique,” she states.
Along with validating outputs, leaders and teams must stay vigilant regarding the evolving ethics of AI. “AI can facilitate actions we likely should avoid, and we know we shouldn’t go that route. For instance, a person might scrape [a competitor’s] website or social media profiles to exploit certain data against them. The instincts that guide such moral judgments should remain intact,” she adds.
The timeline for fully integrating AI tools within a team extends far beyond a 90-day implementation period. According to The 2025 Sprout Social Index™, half of marketing leaders plan to dedicate this year to optimizing the AI tools they’ve already acquired.
Don’t assume individuals will figure it out independently. Provide development resources tailored to your marketing teams’ specific roles and responsibilities.
“If they are social media writers, supply resources tailored to using AI for social media content. Discuss the use cases that hold the most relevance for them so they can visualize its application,” Leffer suggests.
Capitalize on marketing communities such as The Arboretum, which connects professionals with peers in real-time, fostering shared learning and exploration, particularly on how to fit AI into daily operations.
We are still in the early stages of grasping the value that AI can introduce to marketing teams, with leaders like Cole and Leffer leading the way.
As per Leffer, the foremost benefit of AI is the efficiency boost it provides. “It opens the door to undertake more projects, accomplish tasks you might have previously deemed impossible due to time constraints, and leverage your cognitive resources for higher-level strategic endeavors. That efficiency gain ultimately contributes to increased revenue,” she explains.
To delve deeper into how AI is transforming marketing teams (and their future applications), download The Sprout Social Index™.
The post CMOs and AI: Leading marketers into a new way of working first appeared on Sprout Social.
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